|
The holiday eating season can wreck havoc on your diet. Consider that a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, stuffing, and other dishes and desserts can exceed 2,500 calories and 130 grams of fat.
American adults usually gain 1 to 2 pounds each year - including slightly less than 1 pound during the holidays, according to a study released by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). That might not sound like much, but over time, the extra weight can increase your risk of serious health problems, such as diabetes, arthritis and cardiovascular disease.
About 66 percent of the population age 20 or older - are overweight or obese, the NIH says. The number of Americans with diabetes increased 33 percent between 1990 and 1998 to 16 million, an all-time high, and the rate of diagnosed cases is expected to continue climbing because Americans are getting heavier each year, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Healthy eating and food preparation tips
Kennedy, the nutrition department at Penn State University and the American Institute of Cancer Research offer the following suggestions on how to serve flavorful low-fat foods and eat sensibly during the holidays:
- Avoid stuffing yourself to a point where you feel uncomfortable. "It seems at Thanksgiving we have second helpings of everything, sometimes three times. Second and third helpings are not a requirement," says Kennedy, who has a doctorate in exercise science and is a former strength coach for the Penn State football team. At least three times during the holidays most Americans will eat single meals of more than 2,000 calories. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's recommended daily calorie intake ranges from 1,600 to 2,800 calories a day - an entire day - for teens and adults. So you know why people pack on the pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's.
- If you're hosting a dinner, provide plenty of fluids, particularly water, for your guests. Start the meal with a salad and broth-based soup, which provide the portions that people like without high calories. These foods help you feel full but provide fewer calories than other dishes that have lots of calories in small portions, says Barbara Rolls, a nutrition professor at Penn State and author of the book Volumetrics.
- If you plan on using the fatty drippings from the turkey pan to make gravy, use a defatting cup to separate the unwanted fat from the rest of the liquid, Kennedy says. Avoid serving fattening turkey skin.
- Cook with less fat. Most dishes still can be flavorful even if you cut the amount of butter, sugar and oil suggested in the recipe. And try offering low-fat desserts with fruit and whipped topping as an alternative to pies and cakes. "It isn't just the food we eat, it's the way we prepare it,'' Kennedy says.
- A healthy holiday meal should have two-thirds (or more) of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans, and one-third (or less) of meats and other animal-source foods, says the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). To accomplish this goal, try adding nuts and fruits instead of sausage or turkey giblets in your stuffing and use apples instead of sugar and butter in sweet potatoes, the AICR says. Research has shown that fruits and vegetables contain phytochemicals, which may interfere with cancer cell growth and reproduction.
- Provide healthy snacks to your guests. A vegetable tray with a low-fat dip is a better choice than butter cookies, which have 130 calories in each one.
The importance of exercise
People normally take a vacation from exercise during the holidays, but it's important to stick to with your workouts after pigging out. "Just because you take three or four days off doesn't mean you've lost the battle. Weight management is a lifelong endeavor," Kennedy says.
It takes 12 hours of walking at a moderate pace (3 miles to 3.5 miles per hour) to burn off one pound (3,500 calories) of fat, Kennedy says. Although 3,500 calories appears overwhelming, we shouldn't attempt to lose any number of pounds in any given workout. That is, we simply need to burn 100 to 200 more calories per day than we consume. This would result in a loss of 1 to 2 pounds per month. Besides burning those extra calories, exercise can help you cope with stress and depression, which are common for many people during the holidays.
|
Related Articles
|
|
External Sources
 |
Holiday Weight Gain Slight, But May Last a Lifetime, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, March 22, 2000.
|
|
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
|
|
American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR)
|
|
This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.
Return to the previous page
|
